Recently I read I quote from Taylor Swift that said, "If you think about human nature, our favorite pair of shoes are the ones we bought yesterday, our favorite thing is the newest thing that we have, and the thing we've seen the most and for the longest period of time is our reflection in the mirror, so obviously that's going to be our least favorite thing."
And she is right. My favorite shoes are the new Steve maddens I bought half price at DSW. My favorite shorts are a pair of black fabric shorts I bought form Old Navy for the summer. My favorite shirt is a chicken print crop top I recently bought from Forever 21. The one thing all of these clothes have in common is that they are all new. Going through all of my old clothes I realized that most of them have been favorites of mine at one point in time. And every one of them has eventually been replaced by something new.
Unlike my ever changing wardrobe, I've seen the same person staring back at me every day for 20 years. And even though I may have changed over the years I have always been the same person. It can be so easy to hate those small flaws you see in yourself every day. We wear new clothes, change our hair, try out different makeup, spend more time at the gym, and some people even alter their appearance with surgery. We do all of these things to keep ourselves looking new, but fundamentally who we are will always be the same.
And I realized this doesn't just apply to the relationship you have with yourself or your clothes. Taylor's logic applies to every romantic and friendly relationship you have throughout your life.
At the beginning of any friendship or relationship you go through a honey moon phase with the other person. A time where you both are always excited to see each other and you can't spend enough time together. Once that period is over, the strength of your relationship is truly tested. The trick is to get past that honey moon phase and continue to enjoy each other’s company and find more things you have in common. The long lasting relationships in your life will be the ones you work for not the ones you get sick of seeing.
Friends shouldn't be tossed aside like last year’s clothes. And neither should you. You have to learn to continue loving the person you see in the mirror because that's the person you are really going to spend the rest of your life with. Maybe my flaws aren't as apparent to others as they are to me because no one will ever spend as much time with me as I do. If I can stop obsessing over why I look the way I do and accept myself for who I am, I think I will become a happier person.
So thanks T-swizzle, because my new Steven maddens are super cute but so are the vans I wore every day leading up to that purchase, and so am I.
